By Isabelle Ortiz | Staff Writer
BBQ SURPRISE Students receive burgers and chips for lunch as a part of ASB’s outdoor BBQ during Kindness Month. Throughout the month, ASB hosted a number of activities in the quad to engage students.
Over the course of February, ASB put together a variety of lunch activities and themed days for Kindness Month. This event was meant to help students show appreciation for teachers, custodians, and the planet, in addition to celebrating differences among the Gabrielino student body.
Some of the ASB Kindness Month-themed days included Self-Care Day on Feb. 7, Teacher Appreciation Day on Feb. 10, and Custodian Appreciation Day on Feb. 18, and Planet Love Day, which takes place today.
These days were dedicated to spreading kindness in the community, along with showing love to oneself. An important goal of the event was “for students to realize the beauty that exists within our differences, and how those differences make us stronger,” said ASB member Vulena Xiong, junior.
Xiong, along with ASB officer of school spirit Kara Mak, senior, as well as ASB member Emily Casciani, senior, helped construct this month’s theme. With their activities, ASB has strived to bring students together and create a safe and respectful community for all students.
“Community rebuilding and the unity of the student body has been the big focus for our ASB this year,” Xiong stated.
Many activities were hosted by ASB during lunch, where students were able to enter the quad and enjoy themselves with friends by participating in a variety of crafts and games themed after kindness. A student who wished to remain anonymous said, “The games were fun and a little competitive which made it more exciting and enjoyable.”
One of the lunch activities was the gingerbread activity, where students had to write kind words and design paper gingerbread men that were later hung around the school.
“I was able to do it with my friends, we all drew something different and expressed ourselves in unique ways while staying in the theme,” said Lily De Leon, freshman. “They did a really good job supplying markers and cutouts. But they could have supplied at least one more table, it was quite crowded.”
A few of the themed days, such as Teacher Appreciation Day and Custodian Appreciation Day, invited students to show thanks to Gabrielino staff.
According to Xiong, “[ASB] wanted to focus on uplifting spirits on campus, whether that be complimenting a stranger or giving thanks to our lovely custodians.”
Xiong continued, “Students will continue to see the importance of kindness, and how one small act could mean the world to somebody else.” for one act of true kindness always sparks another. That was the intention ASB hopes to get across to all students at Gab.”
